SP Ratification Kit Final

Only changes to the Collective Agreement are identified in this summary.

Anything not mentioned in this summary remains unchanged.

Issue	What you have under your current collective agreement	What you would get under this new deal	Reference
SP Tentative Agreement Summary
Pay	You have not received a raise since 2017. The Employer began this round of bargaining by offering only a 0.5% increase effective on October 1, 2020.	This deal offers a general economic increase of 7% to your pay through the life of the agreement: Oct 1 2018 - increase to rates of pay: 2.0% Oct 1 2019 - increase to rates of pay: 2.0% Oct 1 2020 - increase to rates of pay: 1.5% Oct 1 2021 - increase to rates of pay: 1.5% In addition: Oct 1 2018 - wage adjustment of 0.8% applicable to all SP classifications and levels; Oct 1, 2019 - wage adjustment of 0.2% applicable to all SP classifications and levels. Retroactive pay applies as of October 1, 2018.	Appendix A
Hours of work	The collective agreement provides for compensation to an employee working on their days of rest at the appropriate overtime rate. Unfortunately, it did not seem clear enough for some managers.	We clarified under 8.04 (day workers) and 8.09 (shift workers) that where an employee is required to work on a day of rest the provisions of Article 9 (overtime) shall apply.	Articles 8.04, 8.09
Shift premium	We believe the hardship of working shifts is not sufficiently acknowledged, especially for hours worked between 23:00 and 7:00 AM.	We were successful in increasing the shift premium by $0.50 for Meteorologist shift employees for each hour worked between 23:00 and 7:00 Treasury Board unequivocally rejected our proposal to expand this to all shift workers (not just MTs).	Article 8.19
Designated Paid Holiday (DPH)	MTs, unlike day workers, were not entitled to take their accumulated overtime in compensatory leave instead of money when they worked overtime during a statutory holiday.	We were successful in negotiating access to compensatory leave.	Article 12.10
Travelling Time	We believe the hardship felt by a member travelling outside their HQ and away from their permanent residence should be better compensated. The employee is entitled to a maximum payment of 12 hours’ pay at the straight-time rate for additional travel time in excess of 7.5 hours period of work and travel, in any day. Or 15 hours’ pay at the straight-time rate when travelling beyond North America. The same cap applies when the employee travels during a day of rest or on a designated paid holiday (DPH).	We were successful in increasing the twelve (12) hour cap to fifteen (15) hours’ pay at the straight-time rate in any day regardless of where the employee travels and applicable on a normal working day, a day of rest or a DPH.	Article 13.01
Travel Status Leave	Employees traveling outside their HQ area and who are away from their permanent residence for 40 nights/year receive 7.5 hours off with pay and an additional 7.5 hours off for each additional 20 nights that the employee is away (maximum of 80 additional nights away).	We were successful in reducing the initial cap from 40 nights to 20 nights/year.	Article 13.09
Bereavement Leave with Pay	You are entitled to seven days of Bereavement Leave with Pay following the death of a member of your immediate family. We argued that the current definition of immediate family is too limited and the entitlement does not respond to the needs of all families.	The definition of immediate family has been broadened to include daughter-in-law and son-in-law and a person who stands in the place of a relative for the employee, whether or not there is any degree of consanguinity (descendant) between such person and the employee. The Bereavement Leave with Pay for a person who stands in the place of a relative whether or not there is a degree of consanguinity is limited to once in their career in the federal public administration. Bereavement Leave can now also be divided into two (2) periods. There are specifications/restrictions about when the leave can be taken. For more details, please see the SP tentative agreement dated May 25, 2019.	Article 17.02
Leave without Pay for the care of immediate family	We argued that the current definition of immediate family is too limited and does not respond to the needs of all families.	The definition has been broadened to include a person who stands in the place of a relative for the employee, whether or not there is any degree of consanguinity between such person and the employee.	Article 17.12
Leave with Pay for Family-related responsibilities	We argued that the current definition of immediate family is too limited and does not respond to the needs of all families. We argued that the limitation to provide time off in the case of an unforeseeable closure of daycare facility was too restrictive and did not include situation when child is too old for day care, but still require special care.	The definition has been broadened to include a person who stands in the place of a relative for the employee, whether or not there is any degree of consanguinity between such person and the employee. We were successful in changing daycare facility to care facility.	Article 17.12
Career Development	Better access to career development is important to members who raised the concern that often they don’t know the basis on which the career development is authorized. Currently, there is no obligation for the employer to establish selection criteria for granting leave under career development. Only the PIPSC representative on the Departmental Career Development Consultation Committee (DCDCC) is entitled to a copy of such criteria (where they exist) and the list of the names of the applicants to whom the Employer grants leave. In locations where such committee does not exist, the employer refuses to provide the criteria and the list of names to the PIPSC representative or consult with them.	It is now mandatory to establish selection criteria. The criteria will now be provided to the PIPSC Representative on the Joint Consultation Committee or DCDCC as well as the list of the names of the applicants to whom the employer grants leave. The employer will, on request, consult with the PIPSC representative on the Joint Institute / Treasury Board Career Development Committee. A list of the applicants to whom the Employer grants leave will be provided to the PIPSC representative.	Article 18.05
Use of employer facilities	Informing the members is important to us. Reasonable space on bulletin boards (including electronic bulletin boards, where available) is made available to PIPSC for the posting of official notices, in convenient locations determined by the Employer and the Institute. With the open space concept, reduction of closed offices and shortage of meeting rooms, it is becoming harder for members to easily meet their PIPSC steward or staff representative in a confidential meeting space.	We have clarified that the bulletin boards include the employer’s bulletin boards. The employer retains the right to refuse the posting of any information which it considers adverse to its interests or to the interests of any of its representatives. We were successful in negotiating the access to a readily available confidential environment or meeting space for members to meet with a PIPSC steward or staff in each work location.	Article 28.02 & new 28.04
Standards of Discipline	Notice of disciplinary action placed on the personnel file of an employee shall be destroyed after two (2) years have elapsed since the disciplinary action was taken. The employer wanted to extend the two (2) year period by any periods of leave without pay.	We were successful in limiting the extension to only any single period of leave without pay in excess of six (6) months.	Article 38.04
Correctional Service Specific Duty Allowance (former PFA)	The allowance for members working in Correctional Service varies between $600 and $2000 depending on the security level of the penitentiaries.	We were successful in securing $2,000, regardless of the security level of the penitentiaries.	Article 45
Scientific Integrity Policy (SIP)and the Right to Speak	We were successful during the last round of negotiations to introduce in the collective agreement protection for scientific integrity or the Right to Speak via the development of departmental policies in consultation with PIPSC. We now need to ensure these policies are maintained and will be developed when the 10 RE or SP member threshold is reached.	The revised MOA reinforces the obligations of departments that have not yet developed their SIP and all departments to maintain their policy. We also clarified that such policy shall be completed within eighteen (18) months after reaching the 10-member threshold, if they did not already have 10 SP/RE members.	Appendix D
NEW MOU Office Space	Many members impacted by the open space redesign of their office (GC workplace) brought their concerns to our attention. So far, the employer rarely consults with PIPSC on the workspace changes; often consultations were after the fact or on trivial matters. Because both Public Services Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the departments are both involved in the new design process; PIPSC stewards have been given the runaround about who will solve problems. The employer did not want to negotiate any rights in the collective agreement with regards to office space.	We were successful in negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) stating both parties’ objective of ensuring that employees have effective facilities and services necessary to carry out their work and which are appropriate to the nature of the work being undertaken. It provides for consultation between SP representatives and PSPC on the GC workplace initiative in addition to the obligations for the departments under Article 37 (Joint Consultation). The joint consultation with PSPC will include the elements such as: accessibility of the workplace, including gender neutral washrooms; quiet rooms; collaborative spaces; storage space; noise measurement, monitoring and mitigation measures; etc. For more details, please see the SP tentative agreement dated May 25, 2019.
New MOU with Respect of Salary Progression for the AC Group	The AC Group is governed by different pay progression rules than the rest of the SP Group. There have been grievances filed on the application/interpretation of these rules.	We agreed to establish a joint committee to meet within one hundred eighty (180) days of the signing of the present agreement. The committee will review the AC pay notes and consider the creation of a detailed table of recognized exam / educational requirements that will be applied in determining progress on the scale of salary. The committee’s findings and recommendations will be submitted to the employer and the Institute.	New Appendix

Other Facts About Your New Deal:

The Public Service Labour Relations Board has a new name (the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board), as well as the Act that governs the labour relations (the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act) and your new collective agreement will reflect that.
Editorial changes:
- French version to better reflect the English version in the Definition of “Hourly Rate of Pay”; Article 17.21; Article 46.08 b) “qualifying period”, Article 19.03;
- Article 40.10 (Vacation Leave) had editorial changes required for internal consistency;
- Deletion of the word “cash” throughout the agreement because payments are no longer made in “cash”; of the references to monthly attendance registers/records in 8.05 & 8.18 as they don’t exist anymore; of transitional provision under 15.19, 17.09; 17.17; deletion in 17.20 of reference to Volunteer Leave as it was amalgamated with Personal Leave; Appendix A about members of the CH classification working at the Canada Border Services Agency as there are no longer any members of the CH classification working there;
- Article 18.07 (Joint Institute / Treasury Board Career Development Committee) had editorial changes made to better reflect the articles requiring consultation;
- Gender neutral language to be used throughout the collective agreement.
Leave for Staff Relation Matters: The SP Group has chosen the conciliation – strike route as dispute resolution mechanism should we reach an impasse at the bargaining table. This entails the determination of which members cannot go on strike because they are deemed essential.

The designation of essential members is negotiated with the employer. In case of impasse, this determination can be done by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board. Such hearing requires paid time off for the member representing PIPSC (during this round of bargaining, 3 members) involved in the designation process.

We negotiated, at Article 31.04 where operational requirements permit, a new leave with pay for such hearing.

The Employer wanted to provide access to only an electronic copy of the collective agreement, unlike the current practice that allows employees to request a printed copy. While we recognize some members may prefer an electronic copy, we wanted to maintain the option of a printed copy for stewards. We pushed back and secured in Article 29.02, the right of employees to receive a printed copy upon request where electronic access is unavailable. The employer agrees that employees can use the work’s printer to print their own copy should they prefer paper copy. We secured that SP Stewards will be supplied with a printed copy of this agreement.